Alyeska president Bob Malone remains confident that the pipeline system is safe following a detailed review of concerns

Alyeska Pipeline’s President says he believes the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is being operated safely and in an environmentally sound manner. “I have confidence that there is no imminent threat to the safety of my employees. They are running a safe system,” said Bob Malone. Malone made the comments today after reviewing a detailed analysis of concerns raised to the company. The concerns were raised through the letters received July 12th. Since that date Alyeska executives and subject matter experts have been reviewing the concerns to determine whether any new issues were raised, or whether there were any actions requiring immediate attention. No immediate actions were found to be necessary.

Many of the fifty-seven issues raised in the letters were known to the company and have been or are being addressed. “While I am disappointed that the workers who raised the issues did not have confidence to continue to work within our system, I am relieved that they pursued issues of concern to them. We continue to take these matters seriously and we’ll provide complete factual information in response,” Malone said today.

Twenty-four of the fifty-seven issues have already been closed and on the basis of previous work, require no further action. Thirteen have been previously identified and currently have action plans established to address the issue. Two have action plans in place which, upon management review, need to be improved or accelerated. The remaining 18 issues require further investigation and action plans to close.

Included among several new issues raised were allegations that Executive Management directed employees to circumvent the quality program and to falsify audits and other reports. “This is a serious charge, and I have requested a full investigation to determine whether there is any merit to the accusation,” said Malone. “The quality program is to be followed by all employees, and I expect my senior management to set the example.”

Some of the issues stated in the letters were very general and did not provide enough information to distinguish a specific incident or concern. All employees have been asked to review the issues and provide any additional insight or information to insure that the core issue raised is the item that was addressed in the response.

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System was comprehensively audited in 1993 and 1994; from those audits, a total of 4920 separate items were listed. Since that time, Alyeska has completed 4915 of the mechanical fixes listed in those audits. The five remaining items are long-term projects and will be completed by the end of 1999.

Alyeska Pipeline conducts its own internal audits of the pipeline system to ensure it is operated safely and in compliance with state and federal laws. In 1999, the company has conducted 8 audits. Since 1994, Alyeska Pipeline’s internal audit program has conducted 121 audits and 358 surveillances. These audits and surveillances resulted in 1127 findings; 944 of those findings have been closed. The audit program is one of the tools that Alyeska Pipeline uses to review its own operation and provide continuous improvement to the system. Alyeska also uses its quality program and risk assessments to provide internal review and enhance system operation.

Each area of the company is audited on a minimum of a four-year cycle; some systems are audited on a more frequent basis, depending on their impact on safety and system integrity. Unsatisfactory audits are revisited within one year of the initial audit to ensure corrective action has been implemented. The Joint Pipeline Office has also conducted more than 900 audits, surveillances and inspections of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System since 1994.

Malone will be leading a task force that will investigate the 18 remaining concerns raised in the letters and provide a status report on the items currently in progress for closure. This review will be complete in the third quarter.

As part of Alyeska Pipeline’s review of the issues raised in the anonymous letters, an “Issue Matrix” was developed to track issue status. Copies of the 24-page matrix are available. Contact Alyeska’s Corporate Communication office at (907) 787-8870.

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